led in a sauna?? technology here yet?

[bootz42]

I am on a fact finding mission and need some direction. Friends and I are building a sauna and want to use dimmable and color changing led lighting. I understand diodes, for a while now, have been very sensitive to heat.

Has technology got to the place where some nice led tape lighting can handle 82ºc/180ºf? Also a question about the waterproofing(though may not be appropriate for this forum) Has our silicone technology got to the place where there won't be any outgassing from the heated up silicone?

peace from within to all of you:twynastr

bootz

 

[snijok]

I've seen very many 3mm and 5mm conventional LEDs in saunas, they survive in 80C. If you really want a LED strip, put it inside ventilated transparent acrylic tube.

 

[bootz42]

Interesting. so a hole in the wall with a little fan blowing into the tube? We wanted the lights to be under the benches and the benches to fold up for cleaning. I suppose the tube could be cut into 3 pieces with the wiring going back toward the wall. the led's still need cooling though, huh?

 

[SgtGoldy]

How prone are leds to overheating? a cpu can take a good amount of heat, so i can't see an LED giving out in a plastic tube in a hot tub.

 

[mahoney]

Being in a high temperature environment makes it harder to cool the LEDs effectively. Junction temperature is a critical factor related to LED lifespan. Output will drop permanently as the LEDs get too hot. If you don't mind replacing the LEDs every year or two with the newest product...no problem. If you run the LEDs only for very short periods, or "underdrive" them, you may avoid overheating them.

The humidity may be a bigger issue, many high power LEDs are not as well sealed as their 3mm and 5mm cousins.

 

[Ken_McE]

What if you kept the lights outside and just ran in some light pipes?

 

[JoakimFlorence]

Um... you do realize LED bulbs would not really save any energy inside a heated sauna room ?

If you're trying to generate heat, the old style incandescent bulbs are 100% efficient; it's just that they give off a large portion of their total energy as heat, as well as light. It makes absolutely NO logical sense to be trying to use "energy efficient" lighting while at the same time using electric heating filaments.

This is a stupidity I see over and over again, There's a lot of ignorance in the public, and even if I try patiently explaining it, many times it still doesn't get through their heads.

 

[degarb]

Um... you do realize LED bulbs would not really save any energy inside a heated sauna room ?

If you're trying to generate heat, the old style incandescent bulbs are 100% efficient; it's just that they give off a large portion of their total energy as heat, as well as light. It makes absolutely NO logical sense to be trying to use "energy efficient" lighting while at the same time using electric heating filaments.

This is a stupidity I see over and over again, There's a lot of ignorance in the public, and even if I try patiently explaining it, many times it still doesn't get through their heads.

Wow! So, true, but so harsh.

Now...What if you tried to liquid cool these leds under your bench in the sauna?

 

[PerttiK]

"Traditionally" sauna lights have been implemented with a projector and fiber optics, there's also color changing led projectors now. There's also kits with individual leds novadays. Google "saunavalosarja" (sauna-light-kit) too see what's out there now.